Sky Lions: History Repeating
by Myra the Sark
Summary: Sequel to The Beginning. After five years, it seems the University has forgotten their P3 experiments...until Alpha comes and abducts the cadets. Pairings undecided. On indefinite hold.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's the sequel. ~Myra**

* * *

**Keith's POV**

Keith forced his eyes open. _That dream again,_ he thought. Same dream, same routine—he was running away from Hunters, and he ended up resorting to flying, though how he ended up in the air differed by the night. But this one seemed so real…

He then caught sight of the clock. _Snart, I overslept!_ He quickly dressed himself, and ran into the hallway. "Somebody had a good sleep!" Lance said with a laugh.

"Don't say anything," Keith growled.

During breakfast, Larmina suddenly spoke up. "I just remembered—me, Vince, and Daniel found some strawberries out in the nearby forest, and they're pretty ripe. Think we can go and get some?"

The pilots all exchanged glances. "Well, it's something to do," Pidge said, fixing his glasses. "I vote yes."

"Same here!" Hunk put in.

"I…suppose so," Allura added after a moment.

Keith exchanged glances with Lance. "Looks like we're out-voted," the commander said. Red Lion's pilot shrugged. "Guess so."

* * *

"Ya-hoo!" Daniel yelled, running ahead. Keith chuckled, following a bit slower along with the rest of the team. The strawberry patch that Larmina had spoken of was in a clearing on a small rise, half a mile away from the castle. "Hey!" Daniel said. "If anyone makes a cake…"

"We'll have strawberry shortcakes!" Hunk finished. "Aw great, now I'm hungry again!"

There was a snort, then, "Yeah, and that'll be the day when Keith actually makes something that's edible. I'll make one." It sounded like Lance.

Keith whipped around to face the second-in-command. "Alright, so I'm not a good cook. But I can still whip your tail, Lance!" Lance himself had his hands up in denial, and was shaking his head. "That wasn't me, Keith."

"Then, who—" Keith cut himself off, and slowly turned to look at Pidge. The technician appeared to be looking on the ground for any fruit they had missed. Keith stalked up beside him, and growled, "Pidge—was that you?"

There was a strangled sound from Green Lion's pilot in response.

The commander's eye twitched, and he yanked the top of the younger member's hair. "How many times have I told you _not_ to do that?"

"I can't help it! It's too fun!" Pidge defended.

The cadets were stunned. "Did Pidge just mimic Lance _perfectly_?" Vince wondered aloud.

Pidge had developed that ability a scant week after they'd returned to Arus from Montressor—he'd discovered it while mocking Coran. Big surprise for all of them.

Allura, Lance, and Hunk were all caught up in laughter, though Lance trailed off, a distant look on his face. Suddenly he yelped in a high-pitched tone.

Keith looked up, startled. Only _one_ thing could make Lance startle like that…

And then humanoid creatures with scales, pointed furred ears, and knife-like teeth protruding from elongated snouts crashed out of the undergrowth. _Hunters!_

"Cadets, castle—NOW!" Keith yelled. He heard a shriek in response, and he turned to see something that made his heart stop. All three cadets were struggling in vain against three Hunters. Larmina punched one in the snout, only to get knocked in the side of the head hard enough to make her head jerk to one side. She cried out weakly, and went down.

"Larmina!" Allura screamed, though the distraction allowed a Hunter to scratch her in the face. Keith attempted to go save the cadets, though he was forced to divert when he saw Pidge go down after being ganged up on by four others. He smacked on in the jaw with his fist, though the other three split up and went for the others. One of them wheeled back, and gave him a hard punch to the gut, making him cough and fall to his knees.

"Well, if it isn't Subject One," the Hunter sneered. He had crimson eyes—it was Alpha. "You look like total crap. But don't worry about anything, we won't be killing you…yet. For now, I'm sure the University will appreciate the additions of Subjects Seven, Eight, and Nine." He laughed maniacally.

Keith muttered, "No," and attempted to stand, though the Hunter raised a snakeskin-booted foot and gave a hard kick to the commander's forehead, making everything go dark.

* * *

"Keith?" Allura sounded frightened. Blinking against the harsh noon light, Keith sat up. Allura, Hunk, and Lance were hovering over him, looking concerned. "Where're the cadets?" Keith asked, looking at Lance.

The Tyrian was silent. Then, "They—they took them." Keith knew exactly what that meant.

"No," he whispered. Shakily, he stood, one plan set firmly in his mind. "We're going to get them back," he said, and—though he was well aware that he would be ruining his flight suit—he whipped his wings out, all sixteen feet in total and pale-silver feathers with a black leading edge. He winced when he heard the fabric tear, and then smiled when he saw Allura and Hunk copy. Lance took his leather jacket off first, and then followed. Keith was about to ask where Pidge was, but Allura stepped a bit to the side, and the commander saw that the technician still had not regained consciousness. He nodded a bit, and all four of them were instantly airborne.

Keith shot straight up, stopping when he saw the camouflaged SUV speeding on an old road. "There!" he shouted. Lance went into a dive, folding his rusty-brown wings back. He activated his first weapons—heat-fists—and landed heavily on the car's roof. He punched one window in—only to bank away sharply as gunshots sounded.

"Jeez, that's alesthium!" Hunk exclaimed, speaking of the harder-than-diamond substance that was mined on planet Amertoa.

Keith looked upward for a moment, and noticed a Monterran gunship. "Maybe they moved the cadets to the ship," he said.

In response, Allura shot upward, her rufous-colored wings moving in a blur. One window on the ship opened, and a Hunter threw something small out. Realizing what the item was—a grenade—Keith shouted, "Princess—MOVE!"

The grenade detonated right in front of Blue Lion's pilot, and with a yelp, she plummeted. Luckily, Hunk swooped in and caught her. "Don't worry Keith—just go!" Yellow Lion's pilot shouted.

Keith nodded, and flew up toward the ship.

Only to see that same Hunter—the leader—point a rifle at him.

"It'd be a shame if I had to shoot the Black Lion pilot," he said in a coo-like voice—that very tone coming from that thing's muzzle made Keith feel like vomiting. Realizing the threat, he let himself fall away. The Hunter laughed, closing the window. And for a moment, Keith thought he saw Daniel looking out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Keith's POV**

Later, they all were in the castle control room. Lance was leaning up against a wall, and Hunk was sloughed in a chair. Pidge was staring blankly at a random file on the table. Allura was sitting on the couch, crying.

Pidge shut his eyes tightly, and, yelling something in Baltan, swept his hand across the holographic table, catapulting a coffee mug through the air.

It hit Lance in the side of the head. "Watch it, idiot!" he yelled at Pidge furiously. Then he realized what he'd said, and clenched his teeth.

"_You_ watch it!" Pidge shouted back. "Why couldn't you get the cadets? I mean, you guys didn't get your lights punched out by the Hunters, did you?"

"They had a gunship!" Hunk retaliated. "And guns! We're not bulletproof, especially if it's _alesthium_!"

Keith knew that if _Hunk_ was yelling at _Pidge_, he had to do something, and pretty darn quick—otherwise he'd have a fistfight on his hands. "Guys!" he yelled, putting himself between them. "_We're_ not the enemy. _They're_ the enemy." He started pacing. "Just—be quiet for a minute, all of you, so I can think," he added more calmly. It hadn't been their fault that the rescue failed; hadn't been their fault that the University had the cadets now.

Pidge looked at him, and said shakily, "You know, if they just wanted to kill them—or all of us—they could have. They wanted the cadets alive for some reason…I think I know what that reason is. But that's not the point. I mean, they didn't go out of their way to make sure we were dead. So maybe we can go after the cadets."

"But they could be anywhere," said Allura. "Anywhere in the galaxy." She trembled.

"We know where they brought the cadets," Lance said firmly.

"Where's that?" Hunk asked.

"Monterra, at the University," Lance and Keith said at the same time.

And _that_ went over like a million tons of alesthium bricks. Allura gasped, her hand over her mouth, and her eyes wide. Hunk's breath hitched. Pidge looked scared briefly, and then tried to wipe it off his face.

"They…took the cadets to the University?" Hunk asked slowly.

"I think so," Keith said slowly and calmly. Even though on the inside, he was shrieking with total panic.

"Why?" Allura whispered. "After five years, I thought maybe they had forgotten—"

"They'll _never_ forget about us. Flint wasn't supposed to take us out of there," Keith reminded the princess gently.

"Flint knew they would do anything to get us back. If anyone ever figured out what they did to us, it would be the end of them," Pidge explained.

"Why don't we tell someone about them, then?" Allura said. "We could tell someone that they mutated us into growing wings, and—"

"Okay, that would fix _them_," Lance interrupted. "But _we'd _be galactically-known freaks."

"Well, what do we do then?" Hunk was starting to sound a bit panicky.

Lance looked over at Keith. Keith knew all about Red Lion's pilot's ability to detect emotions—the reason why he had known the Hunters were about to attack. Keith nodded slowly, and brought up an interface, typing a password. A desk materialized, and the commander brought some files out of a drawer. "What…is that?" Allura asked.

"A map of a secret facility," he said. "In the Layuda province of Monterra—the University."

"_Whhaaat_?" Pidge yelped.

"That's where they took the cadets," Lance said. "And that's where we have to go to get them back, and bring them home."

"First things first," Keith began. "No using the Lions, and we go incognito—it'll cause too much suspicion if the Voltron Force shows up on a border planet like Monterra."

They all nodded. "I'll go pack some things," Pidge said, but Keith interrupted.

"No, you won't. Pidge, you and Allura are staying here on Arus."

"_What?_" they both exclaimed.

"What do you mean, we're staying here?" Green Lion's pilot demanded.

"Pidge, I know you're an agile flyer and all, but you're only seventeen, and if I remember right, the space-port we used last time in Ancelstierre was torn down. The closest one to the University is a full two weeks away, _not_ counting breaks. We'll be logging major hours."

"Keith…" Allura was trembling. "They. Took. My. _Niece_. There's no way in the name of Arus that I'm staying here!"

"_Arus_ is the reason why I'm making you stay!" Keith retaliated. "What would happen if you were captured, or worse, _killed_? What would the Arusians do then?"

She was silent, and so was Pidge. _They'll probably hate me for a while,_ Keith thought. _But I'll just have to deal with it._ He paused a moment, and then said, "In fact, I don't even want you two at the Castle of Lions. I'd be best if you both camped out in the old mine shack on the nearby mountain. Just as a precaution, until we get back."

After packing their things, Keith, Lance, and Hunk started toward the ship that was docked in the castle in case the Lions weren't available. Neither the technician nor the princess had come to see them off, though as the ship was taking off, Keith glimpsed both of them looking out a window.

The commander had also told them there was another reason that he was making them stay—on the _very_ slim chance the cadets got out of the University on their own and made it back to Arus.

_We're coming, cadets…_

* * *

**Larmina's POV**

Larmina forced her eyes open. She didn't know where she was—it was very poorly lit. She was also aware that she was sore all over, especially on the side of her head. _What happened?_

She then remembered—these _things_ had come out of nowhere, and three of them had tried tying them up. Larmina had managed to whack one of the ugly things in its snout, but then it had punched her in the left side of her head—which _hurt_ like hell—and everything had gone black. She tried standing up, only to bang her head. _What the—?_

She reached a hand up, feeling cold metal. As her eyes adjusted, she realized she was in a cage. A dog cage, to be exact. _Why in the name of Arus am I in a cage?_ She heard a scratching sound, and turned toward the source. In a cage to the left of hers was a boy who looked like he might've been five years old. She heard him murmuring something incomprehensible.

"Hi," she started quietly.

More murmuring.

Now that the cadet looked closer, she saw that the boy was covered in scaly patches, as in _scales_, like a snake's. It didn't look very pleasant. "What's your name?" she continued. "Mine's Larmina."

The boy didn't say anything, but he looked scared, and backed against his cage side that was farthest from her. A door suddenly opened, letting light flood in, and the air gained a smell that reminded her of antiseptic. She squinted, and saw two figures come in. She saw two people in lab coats stop in front of her crate. With the light, she saw both Daniel and Vince still unconscious in crates on the other side of the aisle.

"So this is the girl Alpha brought?" one said. His voice carried a Monterran accent, so Larmina figured that's where she was. The other, a woman, nodded.

"Yeah. The Director says he wants to use her and the other two to re-start the P3 project. Not to mention, I heard rumors that Alpha got a hold of Subject _Six_."

"Flint's daughter? _That_ Subject Six?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Of course, you idiot! That's the only Subject Six we've ever had!" She turned to Larmina, opening the crate door. Larmina edged backwards against the crate wall. Something about these people…scared her.

"Come along, Subject Eight," the man said, in a tone like he was talking to an animal. "You're needed in Lab Two."


End file.
